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Hi new member and seeking advice on what to look out for on a toyota land cruiser colorado prado 3.0 d4d 2002 model

Blue Mackay

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great_britain
Hi im new here and seeking some advice as going to view a prado 3.0, im new to these vehichles and really hoping for some info on what to look out for?
The Prado has 185,000 miles and has some fairly new parts like rebuilt dif and transfer,i dont really know much about these if anyone can give me some info on what to look out for?
obviously age of these and likes of floor pan,subframes? axels? front and rear panels? again many thanks if anyone can help.
 
what year Prado 3.0L ? Could be a 70 series , most likely a 90 series and possibly a 120 series though i'm not sure on that one ?

Ouch i just read the title lol so sorry .

Check the rear axle but more importantly wherever it connects to the chassis , if its solid there then like as not its good everywhere else at this age .

If its a d4d (1kd) some suffer from a shunt while changing from first to second which usually makes the transfer box suspect , other than that the d4d 90 series is a very reliable vehicle , suction control valves are known to fail eventually but its not much of an issue to change them .
 
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Rust, especially in the rear end of the chassis. Lower ball joints in the front.. replace them. At that mileage, it will need for a few bits like suspension components, bushes, drop links.. really ots thats stuff that suffers most, maybe brake calipers. However its plenty capable of many thousands more.

Where abouts is it? Seaside town or Scottish Highlands will mean made of rust most likely
 
Hi guys, listen thank you so much for the reply...
So im guessing its a 90 series the engine is a d4d 3.0 and its a 52 reg, i really domt know engine codes but assume this is the same engine in a mk5 onwards hilux? Do i have to worry about the mileage being 185k?
Obvioulsy check for clutch biting and not worn....
Ive had a look at engines prices assuming ive viewed the correct ones, there ranging from £1500 onwards.
In the worst event.

I believe the parts that have been replaced are the following...

It has 4 good bfgoodrich tyres( hardly worn)
New springs and shocks
New fuel tank with new filler/sender
Front diff rebuilt
Transfer box rebuilt
New front calipers with new pipes and flexis
New discs and bads
Timing belt done couple of years ago.
Front suspension arms polybushed and new ball joints
Steering rack polybushed.
Exhaust just replaced( front to back)
Well serviced roughly every 5k.
Just mot'd last week.
Retrofitted heated seat kit
Cruise control also fitted and working fine.

So theres a good lot of work been done so far, which to me says the vehichle has been cared for...
just the chassis that needs to be okay now

Can i ask what mileage do these engines go for in general dare i ask before issues start?

Would i be getting close to trouble starting now at the 185k...
 
Yes, that would have the 1KD-FTV engine, badges as D4D in the 90 series. Its the early version of what was used in the 3.0 hilux and 120 landcruiser.I think it's known around here that I'm flying the high mile flag for that engine, and I have 354,000 miles on mine. Apart from an alternator, and suction control valves on the pump, the engine hasn't had a spanner put to it. It gets tested annually and flies the emissions/smoke test with figures a 50k mile engine would be proud of. Issues haven't started yet... They don't break. I have seen them with over 400,000 miles.

The one you are looking at sounds well looked after, especially if the previous owner went to the bother of retrofitting heated seats and cruise control, (I've done the cruise, but I don't want leather seats). If the money is right, and the chassis/mounts check out, it could be a good un...
 
185K nothing for a well maintained 1KD engine. Just the rust from the middle silencer back, chassis ( which rusts from the inside out) Axle needs examining thoroughly around the turret area and also for porosity. So many are getting ready for an axle case. The ride on standard suspension is good, replacing with after market can result in a hard ride.
Lots of remedial work has been done so good luck.
 
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Front suspension upper and lower ball joints should be on your list of things to change if you buy as they can let go without warning , not showing any signs of play - they tend to seize .Also i would be asking the question of why the front diff and transfer box had been rebuilt .
 
BFG Can still look new, hardly worn, with 40,000 miles on.
Expect 80,000 miles if looked after.
Awesome tyre.
 
with 185,000 on the clock, check injectors, otherwise, regular oil changes and you have at least another 100,000 to go.
 
354 k miles thats a lot of miles , are you still running on the original injectors on your 1kd , if you are it goes to show the injectors can do high miles and last a long time , I saw a 1kd on a 2002 collie as Andy Lomas asked me to look it over for a relation of his Mrs , it had around 140k miles and the engine was shaking badly at idle , the map filter was cracked at the bottom and leaking dirty oil so I tested it with a good map filter and it still had a badly shaking engine , I cleaned his maf sensor and noticed the o ring on his maf sensor was snapped and someone had put silicone round the maf sensor to seal the joint , I lent him a maf sensor until he got a new o ring for his , its owner said it was low on power and heavy on fuel , and said he recently had new suction control valves fitted and it had not solved his shaking and low on power engine , I also told him to check the oil pickup strainer for signs of leaking blow-by from leaking injector seals , the toyota tecs had told him his injectors were way past the feedback limits , so I took it that it needed new injectors . he said he was going to have new injectors fitted , I have not heard from him since so dont know if he solved the low power and bad shaking engine ,
 
Original everything Tony, barring the SCVs and alternator. I bought the truck back in 2008 with 70k miles and a full main dealer service history. Regular maintenance is all its had. I've done every oil change myself, timing belt changes and one alternator belt. Fluids and filters, genuinely thats it

I wonder if fuel quality is an issue perhaps... I know the injector seals were an issue on early 120s but not on the first iteration of the unit in the 90 as far as I'm aware
 
Thats great Bob , I have always had it in the back of my mind that injectors wear much faster with the use of dirty or lower grade diesel , thats why I think Australia 1KDs have injector wear problems due to until recently lower grade diesel was used , and the 1KD was not on sale there until around 2006 , even 120s before 2006 had the 1KZ engine .
 
The D4D Collie I had I think was ready for injectors, it ran evenly warm or cold but was clattery for the first couple of miles and then quietened down. If I'd have kept it I'd have renewed the injectors but it would have been an investment that was 25%+ of the trucks value and I'd have had to keep it for years to see the benefit.
Tony, I've not heard from Dimitri so I don't know the situation with his Collie.
 
My 2005 , 120 LC3 had 285,000 miles on when I sold her.

As a preventative, when she was going into Toyota for a full fluids change, I asked them to replace the copper washers on teh injectors.
They looked at me like I dropped in from Mars, asking why, there is nothing wrong with them.
Any way, they changed them for me, and gave me the old ones to look at, and sure enough, there was no leakage.

Sam about the auto gearbox, when at that same time, I asked them to change the automatic oil.
They said why, they are sealed, and to come back when there is 500,000 miles on the clock.
I just asked again, to please change the oil, to which they did.

This injector and auto box oil would have been with around 260,000 on the clock.

To be honest, there was no feeling of change with the new oil or the injector seals.

But I felt better in myself.

Graham
 
Graham I am glad I do not depend on others to service or repair my cars especially main dealers , the toyota tecs who told you why ? when you asked them to change the injectors seals did not know their arse from their elbow , even toyota was asking their dealers to do a injector seal change for 120 owners for free and check the oil strainer for injector blow-by and that was probably why you told them to change the seals as you knew more then they did about potential seals leaking , those tecs should have known that and advised you for them to change the seals and not you to have to tell them to do their job , on ATF, no oil or fluid ever made can stay in grade for 500k miles and still do the job that it is intended to do without wearing down the parts much faster within , that the dealer tecs claimed , as for the atf sure it may last that long but at the expense of wear of the component's in the auto box and T/C , and by then will be way out of warranty and the dealer will then be happy to quote around £6k to replace the auto box , in my opinion main dealer tecs are crap low standard/grade mechanic's , and when they changed your atf they only drained out a third at best , and probably was near black and not pink and would not have smelt sweet like atf in good condition does , had you asked for a sample of the drained atf from your 120 they would have been embarrassed when handing the sample over to you , any experienced specialist auto box mechanic will tell you to keep the auto box last the life of the car and not wear out that sealed for life atf boxes you should drain the atf at its sump ( only a third will come out of the sump) no later than 100k miles for the first time then every 30 k miles there after . I myself got my 120 with 69k miles when I got it and felt guilty leaving atf in unchanged so at just under 80k miles I drained the auto box sump first with the engine cold and got 3 and half litres out , refilled with the same amount and then flushed 7 litres out through the return pipe at the cooler just below the engine coolant reservoir by allowing 1.5 to 2 litres at a time to flow out with the running and switching off the adding the same amount back with a tom thumb type pump until I refilled just under 11 litres in total when including the sump drain .
 
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Hi guy
So viewed the Prado there yesterday,had a good look over the car.
From looking at the floor pan/chassis its not that bad in areas,ive been looking at newer hiluxs and there in similar condition from memory.

Where the axle is,and bolted to its not bad,dont get me wrong there is rust but nothing i can see that looks worrying ,theres the part that is on the axel that he told me he cut of and replace and welded back on...which is linked to some sort of pan rod or tie bar,this has been done.

The areas of concern are....
Drivers rear inner arch where it comes up from the sill and to about 40cm up the arch where the arch would tie onto the quarter i would say theres about 2" gone that needs plating,im assuming this is far enough from the suspension area as from memory its around 30cm within for a mot faliure...which the car has just had a recent mot??
And looking above the plastic body arch trim which is at the same side,just above the trim round the edge of this theres rust starting its not much but can see its going to be needing looked at in a few years time.

The back panel is okay,its not soft but its not solid if that makes sense,i would estimate again in so many years time there might be issues...

the engine runs sweet as a nut for 185k its spot on.

the bfgs are in good nick with still the nobbles at the side of the treads just there so they have hardly done any mileage id say.

hes replaced one side of the suspension fornt and rear,the drivers side hasnt been done but both springs are there...correct me if im wrong but looks to be an easy job?

now as for the why the diff and transfer box were rebuilt he had said that the seal was leaking on one and the bearing went on the other so just got in about it and replaced the chain and did properly...

i did notice a wee weep of oil coming from there,it didnt look fresh tbh but still a weep there.
what would be the other reason for this
goodoldboy? again im new to these so i dont know the problens these come with


test driving the prado,this is my first time driving one..i like the drive very much,the sheer simplicity of them is what i like.
theres not much up on the dash and that means less having to fix.

when i drove it theres a kind of judder when you go into 2nd gear...
it drives fine baar this judder.

when i viewed the car i noticed under the transfer box i think that there was a rubber jammed beteen it and the cradle that holds it in place.
i asked and he said that he does think that mount needs changing,maybe this is causing the judder???
or is it an engine mount possibly or something even worse?

Now so you guys know ,the reason im looking at this vehicle is simply im renovating my property,and need something for towing a trailer for my materials and off scaffolding job i do on the side...if i can get 2/3 years out of this to do my jobs get the garden done up ill be delighted.
ive viewed hiluxs 08 plates to 14 plates with in a budget io set and tbh the condition chassis wise is just terrible..
the quality of whatevber wax oil is being put on them at the time is not good.

this is what led me to look into this landcruiser,its an affordable price,its not winning any shows but its not bad by no means...and as for underneath ive seen some pickups that are not far away from the same condition and there 10k more than this price tag.

the welding i can get done and dabble myself.

im not a stranger to working on cars,but havent done any work on a 4x4 tbh.

i just dont want to be throwing my money away,when im in the costly process of doing my property up.
but i do want to save myself and not pay a price tag of 10k to do the same job this land cruiser could do.
ive had a look at the likes of engines and parts and thinking at worse case scenario if i get stung and its a shed i could break to get my money back,maybe im wrong but seems these engines are a fair price tag on them.
 
"Drivers rear inner arch where it comes up from the sill and to about 40cm up the arch where the arch would tie onto the quarter i would say theres about 2" gone that needs plating,im assuming this is far enough from the suspension area as from memory its around 30cm within for a mot faliure"

Remember these are ladder chassis. The suspension doesn't connect to the body. The only body rust problem could be the proximity to body mounts.
 
what year Prado 3.0L ? Could be a 70 series , most likely a 90 series and possibly a 120 series though i'm not sure on that one ?

Ouch i just read the title lol so sorry .

Check the rear axle but more importantly wherever it connects to the chassis , if its solid there then like as not its good everywhere else at this age .

If its a d4d (1kd) some suffer from a shunt while changing from first to second which usually makes the transfer box suspect , other than that the d4d 90 series is a very reliable vehicle , suction control valves are known to fail eventually but its not much of an issue to change them .

Hi Shayne,
I test drove the cruiser and exactly what you have said, changing from 1st to 2nd theres a shunt as if a wee bump or delay...
The bloke said and shown photos to me of the transfer box being rebuilt due to seal leaking because of worn bearing... and front diff being rebuilt due to noisy bearing.....
Ive seen the photos, and the crusier has done very little mileage in the time since been done.
Leads me to think has something possibly not been ddone right?
Would appreciate any views or advice on this Shayne and thanks again for your help.
 
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